Thanksgiving and Certs | EP88

[00:00:07] What's up, dude?

[00:00:09] Oh, are we doing it now?

[00:00:10] There's no time like the present.

[00:00:12] You know, Thanksgiving's around the corner.

[00:00:14] What, I have a question for you.

[00:00:15] What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

[00:00:19] Stuffing.

[00:00:21] Why does everyone always say stuffing?

[00:00:22] Stuffing is the worst.

[00:00:24] Because it is.

[00:00:25] So, I mean, and I've had lots of different kinds of stuff.

[00:00:28] Like, I don't know.

[00:00:30] I hate to say I'm a stuffing connoisseur, but my mother made awesome stuffing, right?

[00:00:36] My wife makes awesome stuffing.

[00:00:39] And I've just always, for whatever reason, loved stuffing.

[00:00:45] It's been my favorite part.

[00:00:46] Now, I could be convinced maybe of turkey.

[00:00:50] Well, I could have been convinced of turkey, especially smoked turkey, because I love making

[00:00:55] smoked turkey, until I think it was just last year or the year before that I found out that

[00:01:02] turkey can cause gout.

[00:01:04] And so, if after Thanksgiving, you are eating turkey three, four, maybe five times a day,

[00:01:11] I don't know.

[00:01:12] Maybe some people do that.

[00:01:13] I would never.

[00:01:15] Yeah.

[00:01:15] You might have a gout attack.

[00:01:17] Yeah.

[00:01:19] I didn't grow up with stuffing.

[00:01:21] Like, my family never made stuffing.

[00:01:22] So, like, I don't understand this.

[00:01:24] Michelle loves the stuffing thing.

[00:01:27] I actually, I came up with a Thanksgiving risotto using sweet potatoes.

[00:01:33] So, it's like sweet, instead of rice, it's sweet potato.

[00:01:35] And it's got, like, craisins and apple and maple syrup.

[00:01:39] And I threw some bacon in there.

[00:01:40] And I made it one year at my mother-in-law's house, because she always hosted Thanksgiving.

[00:01:45] And, of course, like, because it's risotto, it takes a long time.

[00:01:47] And I'm in her way, trying to, like, saute this thing.

[00:01:50] Don't get me wrong.

[00:01:51] My mother-in-law cannot cook.

[00:01:52] So, she rushes everything and whatever.

[00:01:54] And I'm, like, trying to saute nicely these sweet potatoes and get on this.

[00:01:58] And she got real mad at me, because I was, like, taking up all this time in the kitchen.

[00:02:01] Meanwhile, I'm only using one burner.

[00:02:03] And then everyone came over for Thanksgiving, and everybody loved my risotto.

[00:02:07] And no one liked any of the other food.

[00:02:09] And she told me I'm not allowed to cook in her kitchen anymore.

[00:02:13] Well, those things happen.

[00:02:15] I think my favorite, I mean, I don't really like Thanksgiving just in general.

[00:02:21] If you have a really good gravy, like, gravy is really important to me.

[00:02:24] It's got to be, it can't be clear gravy.

[00:02:27] It's got to be, like, the mucky brown gravy or whatever.

[00:02:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:02:32] But I got, yeah.

[00:02:33] But my favorite thing of all time is when I went to college, there was a restaurant at the top of the hill that made a Thanksgiving roll-up.

[00:02:42] And it was fresh turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, gravy, and some stuffing in, like, a burrito wrap.

[00:02:49] Oh.

[00:02:51] That sounds amazing.

[00:02:52] I want one of those right now.

[00:02:55] It's been an ear and an ear and an ear.

[00:03:03] Data migrations are complex and irritating, creating days of frustration from setup to cutover.

[00:03:09] MoveBot was built from the ground up to fix that.

[00:03:12] MoveBot is the simplest, fastest tool for moving files and emails that there is.

[00:03:17] Fully hosted with no infrastructure, no virtual machines, none of that craziness.

[00:03:22] Sign up, connect, scan, and you'll be moving data in minutes.

[00:03:26] Move data like a pro at atmsp.link forward slash MoveBot.

[00:03:32] What's up, everybody?

[00:03:33] Welcome to the All Things MSP Podcast.

[00:03:35] I'm your host, Justin Escar.

[00:03:36] With me always is my good friend, podcast producer extraordinaire, Mr. Eric Anthony.

[00:03:39] And I promise you, we have not just been sitting here for the last hour talking and then doing multiple episodes.

[00:03:47] This is a completely new episode.

[00:03:48] It just so happens that Eric and I both did laundry on the same day and we're wearing the same clothes.

[00:03:53] Shut up, mom.

[00:03:54] This is the curtain being pulled back.

[00:03:58] What's going on, dude?

[00:04:00] Oh, man.

[00:04:01] It's getting close to Thanksgiving.

[00:04:03] That pre-show conversation started to make me hungry, though.

[00:04:07] I don't usually eat lunch anymore.

[00:04:10] I usually have eggs for breakfast around 9, 10 o'clock, and then I hold off until dinner.

[00:04:15] And now I'm like, I'm going to go find some roast turkey somewhere.

[00:04:22] Because it's too early.

[00:04:23] True story, one year, the day before Thanksgiving, our oven died.

[00:04:30] And so Michelle and I took the turkey, broke it down into pieces, and we cooked it one piece at a time in the Panasonic countertop induction oven she got from work.

[00:04:42] And it was probably the best turkey I've ever had.

[00:04:44] But other turkey note real quick.

[00:04:46] We were away for, you know, like a weekend or whatever it is.

[00:04:50] And we went to this, like, farm-to-table thing.

[00:04:53] And I was talking to a gentleman across the way.

[00:04:56] And he told me that for Thanksgiving he injects – I think I've talked about this before.

[00:05:00] He injects maple syrup into one of the turkey breasts, and he injects sriracha into the other.

[00:05:05] And then he deepfries the whole thing.

[00:05:06] And I look at him and I go, can you adopt me?

[00:05:09] Yeah.

[00:05:10] Well, we didn't do that.

[00:05:12] But back when we were still in Florida, because we had a pretty large amount of family, you know, nearby or close enough to visit for Thanksgiving, we actually cooked three turkeys.

[00:05:25] So one of us would do one in the oven.

[00:05:28] One of us would deep fry it.

[00:05:30] And then one of us would smoke it.

[00:05:32] Guess which one I did?

[00:05:35] Eat them.

[00:05:36] Well, that too.

[00:05:37] But no.

[00:05:39] I love smoking turkey, like I said in the pre-show.

[00:05:41] And I love, well, smoking meat, period.

[00:05:44] I hate that I'm friends with you now.

[00:05:46] Why would I be friends with you then?

[00:05:51] Do you have to get a certification for smoking turkey?

[00:05:55] No, but I think you can.

[00:05:57] That would be dope.

[00:05:58] That would be so cool.

[00:05:59] Like, what are you certified in?

[00:06:02] Apple Mac, Adagy, Smoking Turkey, CISO.

[00:06:05] Wait, what was that other one?

[00:06:06] CISO?

[00:06:07] No, no, the one before that.

[00:06:08] You can definitely be certified in judging barbecue competitions.

[00:06:14] Because I'm pretty sure who I'm pretty sure Brian Best is actually a certified barbecue judge.

[00:06:21] Really?

[00:06:21] Our good friend Brian Best?

[00:06:22] I did not know.

[00:06:23] I think so.

[00:06:23] You know what's really funny when I find out things like that about people?

[00:06:26] Another Brian, Brian the Mac man, Burke, who owns Sell Your Mac.

[00:06:30] He actually is a professional sommelier.

[00:06:36] I was like, what?

[00:06:37] Like, these weird...

[00:06:39] But this goes back to, we've talked about this before.

[00:06:41] This is not the topic of the show, so just keep going with us for a minute.

[00:06:44] But like, this goes back to something we've talked about before, which is like, I think so many people in our industry are really into like, we get really dedicated about something like craft beer or craft whiskey or being a sommelier or barbecue or whatever.

[00:06:58] And it's funny to me, like, we're like computers by day, but like heavenly goodness by night.

[00:07:04] Or, you know, like if I had to guess, I would say my thing that I want to hone in on, and this is so gross, I want to hone in is chocolate chip cookies.

[00:07:16] So coming from a family that takes their chocolate chip cookie making very seriously, that's not weird to me.

[00:07:24] Yeah, but it is to everyone else.

[00:07:28] Maybe, maybe, but there are so many things that affect the outcome of a chocolate chip cookie that there's so many different variations and very small variations can have very different results.

[00:07:41] And yeah, so people should cuddle up now and get ready for this because, you know, obviously this is the Thanksgiving episode now because we've talked about Thanksgiving way too much.

[00:07:52] Um, but, uh, yeah, get comfortable. If you're cooking, turn us on, turn us up. And, uh, Justin, what are we going to talk about today?

[00:08:01] We were going to talk about certifications, but now I kind of just want to keep talking about food.

[00:08:05] If you're running an MSP and ever feel like you're constantly putting out fryers, I've got some exciting news that could change the game for you.

[00:08:13] It's the Eureka Growth Program brought to you by Gozinta's Eureka Process, a sponsor of all things MSP.

[00:08:19] And it's specifically crafted for MSPs at every growth stage.

[00:08:24] Imagine having a C-suite of advisors right at your fingertips, guiding you through everything from hiring to handling mergers, boosting your service delivery, and even planning your exit strategy.

[00:08:36] That's what this program offers.

[00:08:38] And let me tell you, it's like having a powerhouse team behind you, making sure that you're always ready for the next big opportunity.

[00:08:46] So if you're looking to elevate your MSP game, check out the Eureka Growth Program.

[00:08:51] You can sign up for a call with the Eureka team or shoot them an email if you have questions.

[00:08:55] Go to atmsp.link forward slash Eureka to find out more.

[00:09:00] Now, let's talk, yeah, let's jump into something.

[00:09:03] All right.

[00:09:03] You know when the best time to eat a chocolate chip cookie is?

[00:09:06] When you're studying for a certification.

[00:09:07] There you go.

[00:09:08] I tied it together with a little bow.

[00:09:09] Perfect.

[00:09:10] Perfect.

[00:09:11] Let's move on with our lives.

[00:09:12] Because, yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit today about certifications because towards the end of the year, I think is a good time to do it.

[00:09:18] Sometimes, you know, work slows down a little bit around the Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday time, whatever you're celebrating.

[00:09:25] And people need things to do with them, with their time.

[00:09:29] And, yes, this might be a good time to, like, look at your company, you know, from an internal view.

[00:09:35] Are there projects that are still outlying?

[00:09:37] Are there, you know, client work that you need to finish up?

[00:09:40] Things like that.

[00:09:41] But I think this is also a really good time for people to start studying for certifications.

[00:09:48] And I do also hear a lot about from new MSPs, like, what certifications should I get?

[00:09:58] Now, I'm not as familiar with all the PC ones.

[00:10:02] A plus, C plus plus, D minus.

[00:10:05] That was what I got in college.

[00:10:07] There's a lot out there.

[00:10:09] And the question is, like, you know, which one should I get and which one will help make me stand out comparative to other people?

[00:10:18] In the Apple industry, it's a little weird because in order to be an Apple consultant, like listed on the Apple consultants website, only one person in your organization has to take the first of two tests.

[00:10:30] There's the device support test and a deployment and management test.

[00:10:35] The device support test is the first one.

[00:10:36] So even if you have a company of 50 people, as long as one person is taking the device support, you guys are okay.

[00:10:41] But at Virtua, we make everybody take that device support test.

[00:10:45] And then if you want to move up, you go for the deployment and management one, which is a much, much harder test.

[00:10:51] But there's certifications from vendors, right?

[00:10:54] There's Adagy has their certification.

[00:10:56] JAMP 100, 200, 300, 400, 500.

[00:10:59] There's the Mosul certification.

[00:11:01] There's there's there's I'm sure there's, you know, certifications around Intune and all these other things.

[00:11:06] So it is a little bit of a mismatch to like say, like, what what should I get to be, you know, a good MSP?

[00:11:15] Yeah.

[00:11:15] Well, it's interesting that we're talking about this topic today, because I've thought for probably about the last week, and I actually have some notes that I've started to write on this about licensure and the MSP, because I think we're getting to a point where MSPs are going to have to be licensed like a plumber, like an electrician, like any other skill based trade.

[00:11:39] And I think certification has something to do with that.

[00:11:43] I don't want to talk about that topic on this show, because we we said we were going to talk about certifications.

[00:11:49] And I think there's a lot to talk about just about certifications without bringing that topic into it.

[00:11:55] Yeah.

[00:11:55] Certifications, I think where they're useful is in two places, because you have these larger industry certifications, mostly by CompTIA, right?

[00:12:07] That give you a baseline of competency, right?

[00:12:12] And I think that's important.

[00:12:14] I think it's important to have a baseline of competency, even if you're not sharing that with prospective clients, which probably should.

[00:12:23] But even if you're not, I think to say you're doing the best for your business, I think you have to have minimal levels of competency.

[00:12:31] And then I think that just carries through towards the vendor led certifications, right?

[00:12:39] Because if you are representing a vendor, I think you have a duty and responsibility, not only to the client to understand that product fully, but you also have a duty and responsibility as a good partner to the vendor to understand how to not only technically sell, service, manage whatever their product, but also to be a good salesperson and representative of that product.

[00:13:36] I agree.

[00:13:38] What?

[00:13:40] I said, what are, what are, I said, I'm working for, I'm working on a podcast for MSPs.

[00:13:43] What are some of the best certifications I can get to stand out?

[00:13:48] Number one was CompTIA, right?

[00:13:50] And the ones that are A+, Network+, Security+, Cloud+, Advanced Security Practitioner, which for whatever reason is CASP+.

[00:14:01] CompTIA also had the ISACA, you know what that one is?

[00:14:09] ISACA.

[00:14:10] ISACA, which is Certified Systems Auditor, Certified Information Security Manager, Certified in Governance and Enterprise IT, and Certified in Risk and Information Security Controls.

[00:14:22] Which that part alone tells me like, when people go, what certifications should I get?

[00:14:27] The answer really is, what do you want to do?

[00:14:31] Absolutely.

[00:14:32] Because if you're like, I just want to help home users.

[00:14:35] Okay, maybe you need an A+, from CompTIA.

[00:14:39] Maybe you want to get like, I don't know, Azure Fundamentals or something like that, right?

[00:14:46] Or even there's a Microsoft 365 Fundamentals one, right?

[00:14:49] Something simple.

[00:14:51] But if you're like, I want to do, my MSP wants to only do government, you know, you need to look at the ISACA.

[00:15:02] I don't know how to pronounce that.

[00:15:04] Grouping.

[00:15:05] Well, and CMMC and all the different things.

[00:15:08] But, you know, that's going to give you different opportunities as well.

[00:15:11] If you invest in those certifications, now that opens up a whole different target market that you weren't able to access before.

[00:15:22] Because you get on lists?

[00:15:24] No, because now you're certified to actually work on those types of projects.

[00:15:30] Right.

[00:15:31] Because most likely there's going to be some sort of requirement.

[00:15:34] Because especially with government ones, there's going to be a requirement that like someone on your team is certified.

[00:15:39] Right?

[00:15:40] I don't do government work, so I don't really know.

[00:15:42] But I would imagine that if there's going to be an RFP for something in that, there's going to be some requirements.

[00:15:53] So you're going to want to make sure you get that.

[00:15:55] The other people who ask a lot about certifications are people who are looking not only to start MSP, but to get a job in an MSP.

[00:16:03] So I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of young folks who are like, hey, I want to get a job in an MSP.

[00:16:11] What certifications?

[00:16:12] You know, I have my A-plus certification.

[00:16:14] And part of me is always like everyone has their A-plus certification.

[00:16:17] I don't, but we're in Apple.

[00:16:19] It's different.

[00:16:19] But like everyone probably has an A-plus certification.

[00:16:22] Like you're starting out.

[00:16:23] You have yours.

[00:16:24] When was the last time you renewed your A-plus certification?

[00:16:27] So I got grandfathered in, so I don't have to.

[00:16:30] Oh, you don't have to?

[00:16:30] Nice.

[00:16:31] Because mine is so old.

[00:16:33] How old is it?

[00:16:35] Sorry.

[00:16:36] You really want to know?

[00:16:37] Back when we used to have to wire power supply power switches and you had to remember like black, brown, white, blue to make sure you didn't blow something up.

[00:16:51] I have no idea what you're talking about, Grandpa.

[00:16:55] Get off my lawn.

[00:17:01] Eric's standing there trying to figure out power cables.

[00:17:03] I'm standing there eating a chocolate chip cookie, just getting crumbs on his couch.

[00:17:09] But, you know, I always say to those people who ask me like what certifications I get is what kind of job do you want?

[00:17:16] Right?

[00:17:17] Where do you see yourself?

[00:17:18] You know, it's a garbage question.

[00:17:20] Like where do you see yourself in five years?

[00:17:22] But what do you want to be doing in five years?

[00:17:25] Do you want to be cybersecurity?

[00:17:29] Right?

[00:17:30] Go after your, you know, security.

[00:17:33] What is it?

[00:17:34] The Certified Information System Security Professional.

[00:17:37] Sysips.

[00:17:39] Right?

[00:17:40] Do you want to be doing help desk?

[00:17:43] There's nothing wrong with doing help desk.

[00:17:45] Everyone, you know, some people are fine always just doing help desk.

[00:17:49] It's a pretty, it's a good lucrative job.

[00:17:51] Maybe you want to do help desk.

[00:17:53] Then maybe, you know, you focus on A plus and maybe a little bit of network plus or security plus just so that way you can cover your bases on those things.

[00:18:01] Right?

[00:18:02] Or, you know, you're like, no, I'm going to go and I'm going to be the best gosh darn Cisco engineer there is.

[00:18:10] You know who to call for certifications that way.

[00:18:14] Even, even so I went, I pushed ChatGPT and I said, what about vendor ones?

[00:18:19] Microsoft has certifications.

[00:18:20] Cisco has certifications.

[00:18:21] AWS certifications.

[00:18:22] VMware has certifications.

[00:18:24] Google Cloud Platform.

[00:18:26] Apple.

[00:18:27] Sophos.

[00:18:27] Dato, which I'd never heard of.

[00:18:30] I've heard of Dato.

[00:18:30] I've just never heard of the Dato certification.

[00:18:32] Right, right.

[00:18:32] No, they have certifications.

[00:18:34] Fortinet.

[00:18:35] Palo Alto has, you know, like for us, networking is Ubiquity and Meraki.

[00:18:41] We can't get the Meraki certification because Cisco has it weirdly locked.

[00:18:45] But like we go and get the Ubiquity certifications, the classes.

[00:18:49] Go get Fortinet.

[00:18:50] If you're in an industry where you need that level of Fortinet, like the Fortinet firewalls, in my opinion, there's a reason to have them.

[00:18:59] Right?

[00:19:00] There's certain use cases for them.

[00:19:02] Fortinet network security expert.

[00:19:04] Fortinet offers multiple levels from basic NSE1 to advanced NSE8, covering firewall management, networking essentials, essentials for MSP with a security program.

[00:19:14] If you have eight levels of tests, there must be something there.

[00:19:21] They're not doing it just for marketing.

[00:19:23] Right?

[00:19:24] Right.

[00:19:24] There must be something there.

[00:19:25] And I guarantee you, like if I walked in and was like, I'm going to NSE8, I would fail miserably.

[00:19:32] Well, and the other thing that I want to talk about, because I mentioned it earlier about being a good partner in general, right?

[00:20:08] And I think that's a good thing.

[00:20:13] It's a good thing.

[00:20:20] And I think that's a good thing.

[00:20:37] to having a defined certification program for your employees.

[00:20:44] So just like the partner, the vendor will give partners opportunities and advantages

[00:20:49] for going through certification.

[00:20:51] I think it's good for the MSP themselves to offer advantages and perks and things

[00:20:58] to their employees who go after more certifications.

[00:21:02] Yeah, so we do that, right?

[00:21:04] So you start off in virtual as like an apprentice.

[00:21:06] You take your device support from Apple and now you're doing tier one.

[00:21:09] You take your Adagy cert, your tier 1.5.

[00:21:11] You take your deployment management, you're now tier two, like whatever we call it,

[00:21:17] you would call tier two.

[00:21:18] And then you can build up from there.

[00:21:20] The other thing about certifications is that they are really good marketing for you.

[00:21:27] Like all you know, if you go on the consultant's website for Apple,

[00:21:30] and I know I keep coming back to this, but this is where my world is.

[00:21:32] If you look at our company, go search 10120 on the consultant sector, you'll see virtual computers

[00:21:37] and you'll see all the certifications we have, including some like random ones,

[00:21:40] like SignEasy and things like that.

[00:21:43] Okta has a certification, like a pretty base level certification just to understand the

[00:21:47] administration of it, things like that.

[00:21:49] These are also things you should be putting on your website, right?

[00:21:52] We are fully certified in Jamf, A+, Datto, Fortinet, Meraki, Ubiquiti, whatever,

[00:22:01] because there's a reason why they're giving you these nice badges to do things.

[00:22:04] So there's the marketing side.

[00:22:05] The other thing I want to bring up is unlike your grandfathered A,

[00:22:11] because I was thinking about this when you said your grandfathered A+,

[00:22:13] like if you, Eric, were to take the A-plus test today, would you pass?

[00:22:20] I would hope so.

[00:22:22] Because there's probably been so much that changes, right?

[00:22:27] Certifications, I believe that people should be renewing their certifications every two years,

[00:22:32] right?

[00:22:35] My Adagy one is only a two-year length.

[00:22:38] The Apple ones are, or I think they're just you take them once and you're done,

[00:22:44] but like a new operating system has come out since the last time I took the test.

[00:22:48] I have to now start studying for that new version of it because there's changes.

[00:22:53] There's things that change.

[00:22:55] So it's also, if you think about certifications, less about the actual badge at the end

[00:23:01] and more about the route you take for studying,

[00:23:04] you're going to get more in touch with all like the new ones and details

[00:23:10] of the thing you're studying for to make you a better technician as well, I think.

[00:23:15] Yeah.

[00:23:16] And all of those things are going to add up to delivering better service to your clients.

[00:23:21] And, you know, I want to point out that, you know, you mentioned putting those badges and

[00:23:25] things on your website, making sure you list those things.

[00:23:29] One of the important things that you need to understand about the way marketing works today

[00:23:35] is that people don't understand what they need,

[00:23:38] but they're going to search for the name that's on the blinky light box in the closet.

[00:23:44] And so if you match, you have a greater opportunity of picking up that as a prospective client.

[00:23:51] The blinky light box that's in the closet.

[00:23:55] Hey, that's what they're going to call.

[00:23:56] How many of your clients have not called it that?

[00:23:59] Yeah.

[00:24:00] I always get, hey, there's something in here and it's beeping and I'm not sure what.

[00:24:05] I get that one a lot.

[00:24:07] The blinky light box, you know what it reminds me of?

[00:24:09] You remember the movie Hackers from like 95?

[00:24:13] Yes, of course.

[00:24:13] Right after the title sequence, it's Dade's 18th birthday.

[00:24:20] Right.

[00:24:21] And he calls the television company and he's like, I need the phone number that's on the modem

[00:24:26] because obviously you print the phone number on the modem.

[00:24:28] And he's like, it's the blinky box with the red lights on it.

[00:24:31] And the security guard is like, 212-555-1010.

[00:24:36] He's like, okay, thanks.

[00:24:36] Like, what did he calls?

[00:24:38] He says, hi, this is Eddie Vedder from accounting or something like that.

[00:24:43] Anyway.

[00:24:45] Great movie.

[00:24:46] Thanks for the flashback.

[00:24:48] I think we have to do, I think we should do an all things MSP, Hackers Viewing Party.

[00:24:55] I know I'm off topic for a second, but we're going to set something up.

[00:24:59] We're going to set this up.

[00:25:01] I'm going to make this happen for holiday time.

[00:25:04] I don't know how, but I'll make it happen.

[00:25:06] But anyway, I put an ad in the middle of the show.

[00:25:11] So think about when it comes back to certifications, right?

[00:25:16] What is it that you want?

[00:25:17] What's the direction you want your company to go?

[00:25:20] What's the direction that you personally or your staff personally want to achieve?

[00:25:24] Because also, don't forget, as the owner of the MSP, we have one ideal of where we want

[00:25:29] to go, but we don't want to have staff be with us for 10 or 20 years because they're

[00:25:33] not growing as people.

[00:25:34] I think one of the best things to do is help staff members get better and then push them

[00:25:39] out of the nest, get them better jobs as they move up, right?

[00:25:44] So where can we push them to do things?

[00:25:47] If you're living in Google, there are like 90,000 different Google certifications.

[00:25:55] There's Google sales, there's Google drive, there's Google education, Google classroom, Google

[00:25:59] voice, Google cloud.

[00:26:01] And within Google cloud, there's like 45,000 other ones.

[00:26:04] Yeah.

[00:26:07] Pick something and really hone in on it.

[00:26:11] And then learn how to leverage it the other way.

[00:26:14] Because there also is the case of like, I really want to learn this thing.

[00:26:19] I'm going to go for my certification.

[00:26:20] We don't need it at work, but I'm going to learn it.

[00:26:22] And then you can leverage it the other way, right?

[00:26:24] But like, go for something.

[00:26:27] Pick something out and focus on it.

[00:26:30] What's funny is I'm looking at the Apple ones here and it says Apple certified support professional,

[00:26:34] Apple certified IT professional.

[00:26:37] Those are the wrong names.

[00:26:38] So thanks, Chad, GBG.

[00:26:40] To a degree.

[00:26:41] To a degree.

[00:26:42] Well, and this is why, you know, the website that shall not be named that does AI that you

[00:26:52] just mentioned, by the way.

[00:26:53] I don't know why you did that.

[00:26:54] I'm actually asking for itself.

[00:26:57] There is.

[00:26:57] Okay.

[00:26:58] Ready?

[00:26:58] I asked, hey, what certifications are there for chat GBT?

[00:27:03] Right?

[00:27:04] There is the certified chat GBT professional by 101 blockchains.

[00:27:12] And it is a certification that provides comprehensive training on chat GBT covering prompt engineering,

[00:27:20] integration techniques, and advanced topics in natural language processing.

[00:27:27] It told me about itself, Eric.

[00:27:30] Yeah.

[00:27:31] Well, I am sure.

[00:27:32] I mean, because obviously we don't really want to avoid AI, although we try and not make

[00:27:37] it a huge topic on the show.

[00:27:39] I think that prompt engineer, it's a thing.

[00:27:43] And I think if you learn how to help your clients engage better with AI, that is a skill

[00:27:51] that you can monetize to help your clients.

[00:27:55] I don't like that it's by a company called Blockchains, but that's beside the point.

[00:27:59] There's another one, prompt engineering, of course, by Vanderbilt University, and that's

[00:28:03] on Coursera.

[00:28:04] You know?

[00:28:05] There you go.

[00:28:06] Yeah, there you go.

[00:28:06] So there's going to be something.

[00:28:08] So figure out what your focus is for your company.

[00:28:11] There's also ones that will help you move forward in terms of things that we've talked

[00:28:17] about before.

[00:28:17] Forget security, but also in compliance, right?

[00:28:19] There's certifications around compliance.

[00:28:22] Yep.

[00:28:23] And as we've said before, compliance is not just about the technology.

[00:28:28] Right.

[00:28:30] Because I'm too lazy to Google, and since I'm already in the interface.

[00:28:34] Here, certified information privacy professional.

[00:28:37] Yep.

[00:28:38] There's also other certifications.

[00:28:39] There's also certifications.

[00:28:40] Don't forget, there's also certifications outside.

[00:28:42] Like there's the professional, what is it?

[00:28:45] Project management professional, right?

[00:28:46] PMP.

[00:28:47] PMP.

[00:28:47] Yep.

[00:28:49] There's so much in there.

[00:28:50] Certified in risk and information securities.

[00:28:53] Healthcare information security and privacy practitioner.

[00:28:56] Are you an MSP that's doing a lot of HIPAA work?

[00:28:59] Maybe you should think about getting your...

[00:29:05] It's H...

[00:29:06] All right.

[00:29:07] Tell me how you pronounce H-C-I-S-P-P.

[00:29:14] Yeah, I know.

[00:29:17] Too many consonants that don't make it.

[00:29:19] Yeah.

[00:29:20] Throw a Y in there, man.

[00:29:23] But...

[00:29:23] It keeps you.

[00:29:25] There are things that are out there, right?

[00:29:27] So work on building your own skill set because that's what's going to make you more sticky

[00:29:35] with clients.

[00:29:35] That's going to help you get a new job.

[00:29:37] But like going back to the original question, what certification should I get?

[00:29:42] What's the one that fits you and where your goals are the best?

[00:29:47] That's the one you should get.

[00:29:49] Absolutely.

[00:29:50] It's a crap answer.

[00:29:51] It's a crap answer because I can't tell you specifically what you're looking for, right?

[00:29:55] You want to know.

[00:29:55] You want me to tell you A-plus or Network Plus or HIPAA.

[00:30:00] But I can't.

[00:30:01] I can only tell you if you think about future you, which we've had this conversation, right?

[00:30:07] Future Justin hates current Justin and current Justin thinks past Justin is an A-hole.

[00:30:14] I was trying to bite my tongue because I don't want to have to get bleeped in.

[00:30:18] What does future you want to be doing in your career, in the business?

[00:30:25] Where do you want to see it?

[00:30:26] And then backtrack it and get those certifications.

[00:30:31] That's it.

[00:30:31] Yep.

[00:30:32] That's right.

[00:30:33] We can't give you the answer, but Justin can give you a framework for how to figure out what the answer is.

[00:30:39] And if you're taking, if you're going after your Hicka, let us know at facebook.com slash group slash all things MSP.

[00:30:46] If you want me to, if you want to watch me try to say, go to youtube.com slash at all things MSP or leave us a review on all of your favorite podcasting tools and talk about how you don't like when I spit right into my microphone because it bothers you in the car.

[00:31:01] Eric, any final words on certifications or anything for our wonderful viewers out there?

[00:31:06] Well, I was just going to say, because this is the episode that I am going to desperately try and get out the week of Thanksgiving.

[00:31:15] I just want to say that I am thankful for our all things MSP audience for sticking with us through all of the craziness that we put them through.

[00:31:24] And Justin, I want to thank you for hosting the show because I really do appreciate it.

[00:31:30] Without you, I would not have actually taken the next step to do this show.

[00:31:36] So thank you very much.

[00:31:38] You're welcome, man.

[00:31:39] I am thankful definitely for you for even giving me this opportunity.

[00:31:42] You know, we talked about you and I have been talking about things for so long and then now we're well over a year of doing these shows.

[00:31:50] And I really do look forward to recording with you.

[00:31:53] I think this is a great time and I think we have so much fun doing it.

[00:31:56] I really love everyone who's listening.

[00:31:59] I'm grateful for everyone who's listening as well or watching on YouTube just because you're out there and you can consume any content you want.

[00:32:06] And you're choosing to consume this.

[00:32:08] You're choosing to listen to us and go through some of the silly episodes and some of the ones where we promise we'll do better and then we don't.

[00:32:17] So my eternal thanks and gratitude towards everyone who's listening and who has not yet made personal attacks about things that they see on video because people have done that to me in the past.

[00:32:31] It's ridiculous.

[00:32:34] Oh, yeah.

[00:32:35] You know, it's humbling.

[00:32:39] But everybody who watches this and says, oh, it'd be so cool to do a podcast.

[00:32:45] Just do it.

[00:32:46] Because if two idiots like us can do it for 85 weeks in a row now.

[00:32:52] Actually, no.

[00:32:53] By the time this comes out, it'll be like 87 or 88.

[00:32:58] Yeah, you can do it, too.

[00:33:00] We can show you how if you sign up for our new course.

[00:33:02] No, I'm kidding.

[00:33:02] I'm kidding.

[00:33:03] I'm kidding.

[00:33:05] I'm kidding.

[00:33:05] Well, that's it.

[00:33:06] I hope everybody if this is going to be the Thanksgiving episode, I hope everybody has a wonderful thanks full Thanksgiving.

[00:33:12] Let us know what your favorite Thanksgiving food is in the All Things MSP Facebook group.

[00:33:17] If you're not there already, how you found this episode is beyond me.

[00:33:19] But do check us out.

[00:33:20] Facebook.com.

[00:33:23] That over there is Eric.

[00:33:25] This over here is Justin.

[00:33:27] Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[00:33:28] Bye.

[00:33:30] Thanks for listening.

[00:33:32] And don't forget to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform.

[00:33:36] You can also follow us on Facebook.

[00:33:38] But better yet, go ahead and join the Facebook group.

[00:33:41] You can also follow us on Instagram if that's your thing.

[00:33:45] And make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel at All Things MSP to catch us in all of our video glory.

[00:33:52] And last but certainly not least, if LinkedIn is your thing, you can follow us there as well.

[00:33:58] And a special thank you to our premier sponsors, Super Ops, Move Bot, Gozinta, EasyDmark, and Comtech.

[00:34:08] And we also want to thank our vendor sponsors.

[00:34:13] The All Things MSP podcast is a BizPow LLC production.

[00:34:18] We'll see you next time.